Neal Dunn: “the proliferation of the Internet has been the most liberating force in American life in recent history. It has spawned…”

“the proliferation of the Internet has been the most liberating force in American life in recent history. It has spawned a whole new vocabulary, created a forum for social interaction and education, and brought unprecedented productivity to the workplace. Most importantly, it levels the American playing field. It makes it possible for the poor and underprivileged to gain access to educational materials once found only in the new schools of affluent suburbs. It also makes it possible for today's woman to make her mark in the business world while balancing the rigorous demands of work and family. The Internet is the essence of freedom and must maintain this feeling of uninhibited access. With the development of such a powerful social and business tool, however, come many challenges and temptations. The most pressing challenge before us now is how to conform a decades-old tax system based on geographic boundaries to a new world for which there is an unlimited capacity for exploration. The biggest temptation will be to find a quick solution to the potential loss of local government revenue due to E-commerce. These are serious issues with which we must deal with great deliberation. We cannot afford either to create barriers to Internet access through new taxation or to pretend that the increasing rate of E-commerce will not negatively impact money to support local schools, police, and parks.”